“Earth Unwrapped” reveals mixed bag: Aurora Orchestra and BBC Singers

Aurora Orchestra and the BBC Singers

Nicholas Collon and Aurora Orchestra

Nicholas Collon conducts the BBC Singers

By Eleanor Knight, 02 February 2025

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“unwrapping anything can yield mixed results, but for every white elephant there is a treasure”

Reviewed at Kings Place: Hall One, London on 31 January 2025

Porter, Your World

Mahler, Rückert-Lieder: Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (trans. Gottwald)

Britten, Rejoice in the Lamb for soloists, chorus and organ, Op.30 (arr. Imogen Holst)

Fauré, Requiem, Op.48

Jamie Hall, Baritone

BBC Singers

Aurora Orchestra

Nicholas Collon, Conductor

Echoes of Youth from the Aurora principals at Kings Place

Mark Valencia, 19th March

Billed under the heading ‘Echoes of Youth’, this Kings Place programme is an attractive ragbag of unlikely bedfellows.

****1

Brett Dean and Lotte Betts-Dean unlock musical memories at Kings Place

Eleanor Knight, 17th January

Father and daughter team of Brett Dean and Lotte Betts-Dean join forces for the opening concert of Kings Place’s ‘Memory Unwrapped’ season.

****1

Aurora dazzle in Edinburgh International Festival debut

Simon Thompson, 18th August

Aurora Orchestra turn Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony inside out to exhilarating effect in a dazzling performance in their Scottish debut. Abel Selaocoe’s Four Spirits, on the other hand, has surface shine but not much substance.

****1

Aurora Orchestra pulls off another dramatic performance from memory

Nick Boston, 17th August

Nicholas Collon and the Aurora Orchestra, together with Frantic Assembly, present an illuminating analysis of Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony, followed by a blistering account of the work from memory.

****1

Overtaken by the night: Aurora and Donald Grant get lost on the road

Christopher Woodley, 28th September

At Kings Place Aurora Orchestra and Donald Grant fail to impress with a straggling programme of traditional arrangements, composed pieces and a world premiere.

**111

PatKop’s Everyday Non-sense proves to be a Dadaesque house party

Christopher Woodley, 24th April

Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Aurora Orchestra serve up an over-the-top confection at Purcell Room in Southbank Centre.

***11

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Eleanor Knight

Eleanor is a writer and librettist. Her work has appeared in all kinds of places from the Royal Opera House to the foot tunnels beneath the Elephant and Castle roundabout, and she has written arts reviews and features for British papers and magazines. Having begun her working life in theatre, she switched to publishing and later taught creative writing at the University of Brighton and Birkbeck. Currently based in the Netherlands, she teaches at the University of Utrecht. Eleanor plays violin and sings, though not usually at the same time, and has recently taken up speed-skating.

“Earth Unwrapped” reveals a mixed bag: Aurora Orchestra and BBC Singers at Kings Place